Stocks powered higher Tuesday on Wall Street as investors hope the end of a bruising U.S. presidential campaign may soon lift the heavy uncertainty that’s sent markets spinning recently.
The S&P 500 rose 58.92 points, or 1.8%, to 3,369.16 for its second straight healthy gain. The rally was widespread and global, with Treasury yields, oil prices and stocks around the world all strengthening.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 554.98, or 2.1%, to 27,480.03, and the Nasdaq composite added 202.96, or 1.9%, to 11,160.57.
The result of the presidential election might not be known for days because of the large number of Americans who voted early. More than anything, what investors hope for from the election is a clear winner to emerge, even if it takes some time. Whether that’s President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden is less important, because history shows stocks tend to rise regardless of which party controls the White House.
What investors fear is the prospect of a contested election, one that drags on and injects even more uncertainty into markets. Under such a scenario, much of Wall Street expects a sharp drop in stocks. The future political makeup of the Senate is another unknown throwing uncertainty into the markets, along with the timing of a possible COVID-19 vaccine.
In Asia, some benchmarks were moving higher in early trading Wednesday. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 1.8%, while the Kospi in Seoul rose 0.4%.
Dow and S&P 500 futures were down 0.3% as of 7:45 p.m. Eastern time after rising earlier, as several states on the East Coast closed polls and early returns began coming in. Markets around the world were rattled in 2016 as results in the presidential election suggested Trump was running ahead of Hillary Clinton. The S&P 500 slumped early the following day but ended 1.1% higher.
If Biden ends up winning, as polls suggest, the thought is that could open the door to a big support package for the economy, particularly if the Democrats also take control of the Senate. Some areas of the market that would benefit from a large stimulus effort and spending on infrastructure rose more than the rest of the market Tuesday, including stocks of smaller companies and industrial businesses.
If Trump were to win and the Senate stays under Republican control, it would likely lead to less stimulus than under a Democratic sweep, according to Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance. A Biden win and Republican Senate would be least beneficial to stocks, meanwhile, because it would mean the lowest chance for stimulus.
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